Nokia opens California research center

Nokia Corp. opened a research center in Palo Alto, California, and plans to collaborate with Stanford University.

The 35 researchers who will initially work at the center will focus on advanced user interfaces, sensor networks, wireless grids and context-aware content. Nokia expects the center, which officially opened Thursday, to expand and employ around 100 researchers.

A three-year agreement with Stanford will include courses at the university on mobile computing and services. Nokia researchers will also be able to use the Stanford campus and its residents as a testing ground for technologies developed at the center.

Some of the areas of focus for the researchers are growing in importance in the mobile market. For example, Nokia recently introduced a short-range communications technology called Wibree that could be classified in the sensor networks category.

In addition, mobile industry leaders are increasingly discussing ways to attach data such as location information to media-like photos that users take with their phones as a way to enhance the potential of mobile social networking. Nokia researchers investigating context-aware content may pursue such technologies.

In a statement, Nokia said that it chose the Silicon Valley area for its environment consisting of Internet companies, entrepreneurs and universities. Nokia established a similar facility and partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge late last year.

Despite recently pulling out of the market for CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) products, used by Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless Inc., Nokia has said that it wants to improve its position in the U.S. market. Nokia dominates the mobile phone market in most regions of the world except for the U.S.

In addition to opening two research centers in the U.S., Nokia’s Chief Technology Officer Tero Ojanpera recently moved to New York. He said he relocated to the U.S. to be closer to global leaders in the software, services and media markets and to be near the venture capital companies that fund new technologies.